Voltage-regulator.



A. H. OLMSTED.

VOLTAGE REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1914.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915 Big . iNVENTOR ATITORNEY A/agndek liO/msfed WlTNESSES: 2

UNITED srra'rns AF'IENT orriost ALEXANDER HGLLEY OLE/ESTER GTE A T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Annxaxnna Hominy OLMSTED, a citizen of the United States. and

a resident of Altrincham, in the county of Chesten lingland, have invented a new and useful'lmprovement in VoltagesRegulators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to voltage regulators of the kind adapted, to vary the excitation of an electric generator or of its exciter so as-to maintain a constant voltage on the generatorterminals.

The object of m invention is to provide a simple means fd adapting such regulators for a wide range of conditions.

In the regulator described in United States application, Serial No. 741,6l6, filed Jan. 28, 1913, a resister that is connected in series with the field magnet winding of the generator or its eXciter is arranged to be short-circuited through two contacts operated by a relay magnet and the energization of the magnet is controlled by a pair of contacts one of which is carried on a vibrating arm and the other of which is mounted on a lever the position of which is adjusted in accordance with the voltage to be regulated. The vibrating arm is caused to oscillate by means of an electro-magnet hereinafter termed the vibrator magnet the circuit through which is made and broken through two contacts one of which is spring sup- .ported-and the other of which is mounted on the vibrating arm in the manner of an electric trembling bell, the rate of vibration being substantially constant.

According to my present invention,. in place of locating the last mentioned mov 'able contact member, that controls the cir- 'cuit of the vibrator magnet directly on the vibrating arm, the said contact is mounted on a pivotally mounted lever connected by a link with the vibrating arm: A certain amount of lost motion is provided between the vibrating arm and the pivoted'lever.

The vibrating arm has its movement damped or retarded by means of a dash pot and the pivoted lever is provided vithmeans that causes it to stop in any position to which it is moved unless it is positively moved from such position. Such means, for example, may consist of a spring arranged to press upon the pivot of said leveri The coil of the electro-magnet which operates the vibrating arm in place of being energized from a battery, as in the specification Application filed November in. 1914.

ZNCHAI'II, ,ENGLANEI].

of the patent referred to, is connected a resistance in the exciter or generator cir cult, or any suitable source of current The relay connections and the other parts of the regulator are substantially similar to thosedescribed in the specification referred to.

in order that the invention may be clea understood it will now be describet reference to the accompanying drawing which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view regulator embodying my invention, 2 is a perspectiveview of the device einbodying my invention.

In 1. 1 is the eXciter, 2 the fiel winding thereof, and 3 the resistance is cut into and out of the field circuit by means of relay contacts 4:, 5 governed by a relay magnet 6. The relay magnet 6 energized from a resistance 7 that is connected. in circuit with the exciter in the usual way and the circuit of the relay magnet 6 is opened and closed through two contacts 8 and 9. The contact 8 is adjusted in position by means of an electro-magnet 10 that is energized from the circuit the potential of which is to be regulated, while v till is caused to vibrate by means of an electromagnet 12. vThe vibrating arm 11 is co nected through a link 13 to a lever 14 carrying a contact 15 that cooperates with a resiliently supported contact 16 for govern ing the circuit of the electro-ma'gnet The linlr13 has a lost motion connection with the lever it by means of two stops- 1? and 18 spaced a short distance apart the lever 1% is further arranged so c move stiiliy on its, pivot. One means insuring this stiffness of movement is illus trated in Fig. 2 in which 19 is a cylindrical shaft on which the lever 14; is mountet said shaft being suitably supported at ea end and '20 is a fiat spring adapted to againstthe said shaft so that the friction will hold the shaft and lever ll in any position to which the latter is moved. By this arrangement the lever 1% will only be nioved byreason of a positive engagement of ti stops 17 and 1S therewith. The arm 11 also provided with a dash pot 21 that servrs to damp its vibration. 22 is a resistance connected across the contacts 15 and 16 in order to reduce the sparking.

The vibrator electromagnet 12 with its armature will operate to cause the arm 1?.

to vibrate with'a relatively slow frequency and thus cause the contact 9 to vibrate, the

weight of the lever 23 to which the contact member 8 is connected and the force of a spring 24 between the same and the arm 11- I being so smallrom'pared with the mass of the lever 11 that the fact of the contacts 8 and 9 being in or out of engagement will not affect the vibration of the arm 11. The circuit of the relay 6 isv made and broken by the contacts 8 and 9 and the length of time per vibration of. the arm 11 that these contacts remain in engagement will be de:

termined by the position of a stop 25 car-' It will be observed that in-the upper extreme position of the stop 25 which it takes when the voltage applied to the magnet coil 10 exceeds a certain predetermined value, the contact members 8 and 9 remain permanently 1n engagement, whereas in the extreme lower position of the stop 25 that occurs when the voltage applied to the magnet coil 10 below another predetermined limit the contact member 8 will not be en gaged by the contact member 9. In the first case, the register 3 will always-be connected in series relation to the field winding 2, whereas in the second case,-the resister 3 will be permanently short circuited.

It has been found that with the arrangements described the vibration of the arm 11 is relatively slow, consequently there is little likelihood of the contacts 8 and 9 be-' ing damaged when the regulator is used on heavy loads. Furthermore, owing tothe damping effect of the dash pct 21 and the lost motion introduced between the arm 11 and the lever 14; which carries the contact .15, the device will operate satisfactorily 'even when the voltage supplied to the coil 12.varies considerably over a wide range, and this enables a portion of the exciter circuit, as shown in the drawings, to be used as a source of supply forthe coil 12. The coil 12 and the relay coil 6 may, however, be supplied from the generator circuit or from any other source if desired.

While I have shown my invention in a preferred form, it is not so limited, but-it may be modified within the scope of the appended claims. I

I claim as my invention: 1. An electrical'regulator comprising c'o operating main contact members, an arm carrying one of the-said members, an'electromagnet for relatively slowly vibrating the said arm, a pair of auxiliary contact members for controlling the circuit of the said electromagnet, a lost motion connection between one of the said auxiliary contact members and the said vibrating arm, a second arm upon which the other main contact member is mounted, means normally tending to cause the main contact members to engage, a thirdarm for varying the position of the second arm, and means for governing the position of the third arm in accordance with variations of the quantity regulated.

2. An electrical regulator comprising cooperating main contact members, means for vibrating one of the said members at a substantially constant frequency, means for supporting the other main contact member,

an arm controlling the .position of the said supporting means, means for controlling the position of the said arm in accordance with variations of the quantity regulated, and a lost motion means controlled bythe 'said vibrating main contact member for controlling the said means for vibrating the said main contact member.

An electrical regulator comprising cooperating main contact members, means for relatively slowly vibrating one of the said main contact members,means for supporting the other main contact member, means for controlling the position of othe supporting means for the other main contact member in accordance with variations of the quantity regulated, auxiliary contact members for controlling the said means for vibrating one of the main contact members, and a lost motion connection between the vibrating main contact member and one of the auxiliary contact'members.

4. An electrical regulator comprising cooperating main contact members, means for relatively slowly vibrating one of the said main contact members, means for supporting the other main contact member, means for controlling"thefposition of the supporting means for the'other main contact member. in accordance with variations of the quantity regulated, stationary and movable auxiliary contact members for controlling the said means for vibrating one of the main contact members, means for restraining the sad movable auxiliary contact member, and a lost mot10n connection between the v1- brating main contact memberand the said movable auxiliary contact member.

5. In an electrical regulator, the combination with two main contact members and means for vibrating one of the same, of two auxiliary contact members for controlling the means for --vibrating one of the main contact members, means for restraining the movable auxiliary contact member in any position, and a lost motion connection bevibrating main contact. member movable auxilary contact member. an GlGCelllCill regulator, the combina- 1 We main contact members and ibrating' one of the same, of two y contact members for controlling eans fer vibrating one of the main members, resilient means for re; ing the movable auxiliary contact member in posit-ion, and a lost motion w nection between the vibrating main conmember and the movable auxiliary con "tact member.

5. A contact device comprising a vibrat- 

